72 Music Video Competition Screening

From May 19 through the 22, nine teams of local filmmakers partnered with nine local musicians to participate in the second annual EFS 72 Hour Music Video Competition.

The event kicked off last Wednesday with a meet and greet between filmmakers and musicians at Sam Bond’s Foundry. There, local artists got the chance not only to meet with each other, but also to discuss ideas and inspiration for music videos. Each participating artist cast a ballot for their top choices to partner with.

EFS Executive director Joshua Purvis congratulated all the artists for “taking the opportunity to invest in [themselves] and the community.”

Filmmaker and UO student Joe Hughes, who participated in both the 2014 and 2016 competitions, said Wednesday that he was better prepared this time around, now that he knew exactly what he was getting himself into. “I had ideas in mind both times before going into the competition,” Hughes said. “But last time I joined at the last minute. I planned better this time and changed the questions I asked musicians to see if we had the same visions in mind.”

David Chiang, a crew member on Ashlee Olson’s filmmaking team, has participated in similar, limited-time filmmaking events before, such as the Adrenaline Film Festival and the EFS 72 Horror Film Competition. He stated that filming and producing is grueling, and that it takes a while to get back into the rhythm of things afterwards, but that the experience makes it worthwhile.

On Thursday afternoon, the teams were announced and then turned loose to begin filming. Each time had to provide their own actors, crew, music and equipment to shoot and produce a music video within 72 hours. Each team’s video was required to be turned in on Sunday by 6pm. Although some filmmaking teams made it in just under the time limit, each video showed the creative ingenuity of each artist.

On Sunday night, the Eugene Film Society and the UO Cinema Studies program hosted a screening and networking event to highlight the artists and their videos. Families, friends and fans, as well as the filmmakers and musicians themselves packed into the University of Oregon’s Prince Lucien Campbell hall to attend the screening. Stylistically, the videos were all very different, and each reflected both the style of its creators and the musicians who participated.

Prizes were awarded to the winning teams by both audience vote and a panel of judges selected to assess the quality and content of the videos. The video for “Buoyancy,” performed by Super Honey and and directed by Sabrina Zawierucha won the Audience Award. The jury panel chose Hyperion’s “K-Space,” whose video was directed by Brian Steveson and Rachel Brock, as the winner. Honorable mentions for the awards were given to Dez Anthony and Ashlee Olson for “Visions of Fate,” and to Joe Hughes and Sol Seed for “Rags to Wisdom.”

EFS will be hosting additional screenings of the music videos at the Broadway Metro on Wednesday, June 1, at 5:30pm and 9pm. Filmmakers, musicians, and their families and friends are encouraged to attend.

About the Eugene Film Society

The Eugene Film Society (EFS) supports Eugene film production and a grassroots film culture by networking with local businesses, non-profits, colleges and universities to program and promote film festivals and cinema events that encourage competition and collaboration among local film organizations.

The Eugene Film Society organizes multiple signature events including the EFS Screening & Social, the EFS 72 Hour Music Video Competition, the EFS 72 Hour Horror Film Competition, the All Hallows Eugene downtown Halloween event, TAD Talks and a summer film series out on Kesey Square.